Torque converters are well known in the art, and generally include a pump, turbine, and stator to regulate torque transferred from an engine of an automobile to a transmission of the automobile. Some torque converters require an independent fluid circuit for the control of a clutch, such as a lock-up clutch between a piston plate and a cover of the torque converter.
An example of such a torque converter is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,837,349 (Bauer et al.). This torque converter includes a hub having a plurality of fluid channels for directing the flow of fluid through the torque converter, particularly fluid contacting an actuating piston of the torque converter. Currently, similar hubs are forged and then passages or channels are machined into the hubs, such as by drilling or milling. These machining processes require additional time, cost, material, and maintenance of cutting tools. Since a die is usually required for the forging process, it would be advantageous if a design for a hub could be developed where the passages are integrated into the design of the hub and die, so that additional machining is not required. Therefore, what is needed is a hub which can be formed without unnecessary machining operations.